narrator: an optics company, perkin-elmer, was chosen to do the work, in part because it had already made mirrors for spy satellites. faber: they told nasa, "we know how to do this, and this technology is proprietary. "we are not going to let you come in and watch what we are doing." so nasa got a rather limited view of what was going on in that little group. crocker: they had very, very precise instruments that they designed just for polishing this mirror. they had to work at night so that the vibration of cars in the parking lot wouldn't cause problems with the polishing equipment. they had to isolate it and float it on a table so any vibrations from the building wouldn't come in. and this program was over budget, behind schedule. they were desperate to get the telescope built and flown. narrator: perkin-elmer's own measurements showed discrepancies in the surface of the mirror, but this was never passed on to nasa. the telescope was declared ready for launch, a disaster waiting to happen. (applause) ed weiler: the hopes and dreams of the world's astronomers were with us that day a